biostudies-literatureClark AMNational Center for Advancing Translational SciencesDefense Advanced Research Projects AgencyBLRD VANCATS NIH HHS156-168https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC5242229biostudies-literatureUnknown17(1)Distant metastasis is the major cause of breast cancer-related mortality, commonly emerging clinically after 5 or more years of seeming 'cure' of the primary tumor, indicating a quiescent dormancy. The lack of relevant accessible model systems for metastasis that recreate this latent stage has hindered our understanding of the molecular basis and the development of therapies against these lethal outgrowths. We previously reported on the development of an all-human 3D ex vivo hepatic microphysiological system that reproduces several features of liver physiology and enables spontaneous dormancy in a subpopulation of breast cancer cells. However, we observed that the dormant cells were localized primarily within the 3D tissue, while the proliferative cells were in contact with the polystyreneLab on a chipA liver microphysiological system of tumor cell dormancy and inflammatory responsiveness is affected by scaffold properties.PMC52422291UH3TR000496I01 BX003368W911NF-12-2-0039UH3 TR000496Griffith LYoung CLVenkataramanan RLauffenburger DClark AMWheeler SEZhao WStolz DBWells AShepard Neiman JStockdale LfalseA liver microphysiological system of tumor cell dormancy and inflammatory responsiveness is affected by scaffold properties.Distant metastasis is the major cause of breast cancer-related mortality, commonly emerging clinically after 5 or more years of seeming 'cure' of the primary tumor, indicating a quiescent dormancy. The lack of relevant accessible model systems for metastasis that recreate this latent stage has hindered our understanding of the molecular basis and the development of therapies against these lethal outgrowths. We previously reported on the development of an all-human 3D ex vivo hepatic microphysiological system that reproduces several features of liver physiology and enables spontaneous dormancy in a subpopulation of breast cancer cells. However, we observed that the dormant cells were localized primarily within the 3D tissue, while the proliferative cells were in contact with the polystyrene2016-01-01T00:00:00Z2016 Dec2025-04-05T15:34:29.471Z2019-03-27T02:34:24ZS-EPMC52422292791097210.1039/c6lc01171c